User:Irene Hosmer/Sandbox

Introduction

The Six-Day War took place in June 1967 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt. It started on the 5th June and ended on the 10th June with the victory of Israel. This war has had huge consequences for the future of the Middle East. Israel occupying Arab areas, such as the West Bank and Gaza, has caused many bloody conflicts between Israel and its neighboring countries, and led to the exile of many Palestinians.

Historical background

After the First World War, Zionist ideals started to become a reality. Jews from Europe started moving to Palestine in the 1920s, when the territory was still under the British mandate and this migration didn't happen without conflict with the native Arab population. The foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 was never recognized by the Arab states and its creation didn't happen peacefully: Egypt came to war with Israel in 1948 and 1949, becoming the main enemy of the Jewish state.

The Suez crisis of 1956 established a geo-political situation that didn't solve the problems in the area and after the event, the UN allocated troops in the Sinai peninsula to maintain peace between Egypt and Israel. This crisis wasn't the only event that led to the Six-Day War: the coming to power of the Ba'th party in Syria in 1963, the establishment of the PLO in 1964 and the alliance of Syria, Egypt and Jordan in 1966 contributed to the rise of tension.

In May 1967, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser was informed by the Soviet Union that Israel was moving its troops on the border with Syria. Because of this information, Nasser decided to expel the UN troops from the Sinai peninsula and moved his army close to the border with Israel. In the last days of May, other Arab countries such as Jordan and Iraq (...). The main event that led to the beginning of the war was the closing of the Tiran Straits: on the 23rd of May 1967, Egypt blocked Israel's only access on the Red Sea.

Aftermath

Israel won the war after 983 people lost their life and many tanks and aircrafts were destroyed. On the opposite side, Egypt lost 15.000 soldiers, Jordan 700 and Syria 2500. With this victory, Israel gained many territories: the whole Sinai peninsula, the Gaza strip, the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. This also meant that Israel was now ruling over one million Arabs, leading to the forced displacement of most of them soon after the war.

The victory of Israel had many different meanings: it wasn't just a defeat for the Arab countries, but for the Soviet Union, which has helped Egypt in order to maintain its power in the Middle East. More importantly, Israel affirmed its supremacy in the region and proved to be very powerful despite its dimensions. Feelings of enthusiasm and optimism spread within the country but also outside, convincing many Jews to migrate to Israel, while across the Arab world, violence rose against the Jewish communities. The result of this war also led to a change of strategy for the PLO, founded in 1964, that after Israel's victory became military active.

In an interview at the end of June 1967, David Ben-Gurion affirmed that Israel would have accepted to give back the occupied territories in exchange of a definite peace treaty and the recognition of the State of Israel by Arab countries. Nasser and other Arab leaders decided not to accept Israel's conditions and their choice against further negotiations led to another conflict just a few years later, in 1973. This was called the Yom Kippur war and was won by Israel once again, without bringing any change to the borders defined in 1967. The Sinai peninsula was eventually given back to Egypt in 1982 but tensions with Palestinians in the other occupied territories have never been solved.